O padroado da Ordem de Cristo e as elites do Brasil setecentista

Abstract

This article analyzes the process undertaken in the provision of benefices (cathedrals’ prebends and vicariates) belonging to the patronage of the Order of Christ in south central Portuguese America during the royalist context, in the second half of the 18th century. The objective is to examine the political and social meanings that access to the beneficial network of the Order of Christ provided. The analysis presumes that the monarchy awarded these positions as part of a larger system of rewards for services rendered to the crown.